Attachment for hacksaws



Oct. 16, 1956 LE ROY M. KIMMEL ATTACHMENT FOR HACKSAWS Filed Dec. 3, 1954 INVENTOR. LERY M. KIM MEL.

ATTACHMENT FOR HACKSAWS Le Roy M. Kimmel, Long Beach, Calif. Application December 3, 1994, Serial No. 472,921

2 Claims. (Cl. 145-359 This invention relates to hacksaws, and more particularly has reference to an attachment to an otherwise conventional hacksaw, which attachment is adapted to receive the thumb and index finger of one hand of a person gripping the hacksaw handle with his other hand.

It is desirable, in the use of a hacksaw, to guide the hacksaw properly along a straight line, during the sawing operation. It is common practice for one who is grasping the hacksaw handle with one hand, to grip the outer or forward end portion of the hacksaw frame with his other hand, to exert a downward pressur on the hacksaw at that end thereof remote from the handle, while at the same time guiding the same in the kerf made in the work by the saw blade.

This arrangement, however, has some disadvantages, and one of these resides in the fact that it is ditficult to hold the hacksaw in a proper plane, during the sawing operation. The hacksaw tends to tilt to the left or right out of said plane. As a result, the blade is often broken, and additionally, the work is not cut accurately.

Still further, when one grasps the hacksaw frame in the method referred to, it is possible that the hand can slip off the frame, causing injury to the worker on many occasions.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a hacksaw attachment which will be so designed as to be readily connectable to a conventional hacksaw frame, at a location where the user can press downwardly with the thumb and index finger upon the attachment, to exert a downward pressure upon the hacksaw frame that will insure the making of a proper cut.

Another object of importance is to so locate the attachment as to cause the exerted pressure to be disposed where it will do the maximum good, with the attachment being so designed as to permit the pressure to be varied within an accurately controlled range by the user, according to the hardness of the work through which the saw is being directed.

Still another object is to provide an attachment as stated which will be inexpensive in construction, will be attached to or detached from a saw with maximum speed and ease, can be used either on the left or right side of the saw, will aid in preventing the blade from accidentally becoming detached from the hacksaw frame, and will interfere to a minimum extent with the sawing of the work.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a hacksaw frame equipped with an attachment according to the invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the attachment, the frame being illustrated fragmentarily;

Figure 3 is a perspective view, still further enlarged, of the attachment in an intermediate stage of manufacture;

States Patent 2,766,790 Patented Oct. 16, 1956 Figure 4 is a plan view of the blank used in forming the device; and

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a modified form.

A conventional hacksaw frame generally designated 10 includes, at the end thereof remote from its handle, a depending leg 12 of rectangular cross section having at its lower end a blade mount 14 to which is connected one end of a blade 16.

The attachment 18 constituting the invention is formed from a single piece of metal, plastic, or the like, and includes a fiat body portion 20 intermediate its opposite ends. Extending transversely of the body portion from one longitudinal edge thereof are parallel slits 22 extending beyond the midwidth point of the body portion and terminating short of the opposite longitudinal edge of the body portion. Defined by the slits at opposite ends of the body portion are index finger and thumb rests 24, 26 respectively, and these are depressed intermediate their ends to better fit the thumb and index finger thereinto.

The material of the blank defined between slits 22 is bent upwardly along a line extending between the inner ends of the slits, into a plane normal to the general plane of the body portion. At its upper end, said material, which constitutes an arm 28, is integrally formed with a cross member 30 the opposite ends of which are extended toward the longitudinal edge of the body portion upon which the slits open. The free ends of the cross member are bent inwardly toward one another at a location inwardly from such longitudinal edge to form angular wings 32 adapted to embrace the leg 12. Wings 32 and arm 28 form a guide slidable along the leg 12 and normally gravitating into a position in which thumb rest 24 rests against the top edge of blade 16.

In the modified form of Figure 5, the hacksaw 10a is of the type having a leg 12a of circular rather than rectangular cross section. In this form, the attachment 18a, instead of having angular wings 32, has arcuate wings 32a cooperating to form a sleeve slidable upon leg 12a.

In use, the device is slidably secured to leg 12 by bending the wings 32 or 32a thereabout. Then, when the saw is being used, the thumb and index finger of one hand can be pressed against the rests 24, 26. This causes pressure to be exerted downwardly at the outer end of the hacksaw, to increase the efiiciency of the saw during use. The pressure can be controlled minutely by the worker; and one can exert more pressure upon the rest 26 than upon the rest 24, or vice versa, if desired. A downward pressure exerted through rest 24 tends to bind blade 16 securely in engagement with its blade mount, to prevent the blade from accidentally disengaging from the blade mount.

The device can be used either as a left or right hand attachment, since it need merely be reversed sid for side upon the leg 12 or 12a to dispose the body portion 20 at a selected side of the leg. The rests, being identical, appear the same regardless of the side at which the device is mounted.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of 0 the appended claims.

including a blade and a frame having outer and inner legs to which the blade is connected at its opposite ends, comprising: a single piece of'material including an elongated body portion having a substantially flat intermediate part and depressed end portions defining thumb and finger rests, said body portion being formed, at opposite sides of the fiat part, with transversely extending slits opening at one end upon one longitudinal edge of the body portion and terminating short of the other longitudinal edge of the body portion at their other ends, said slits defining an arm between them, said arm being bent upwardly into a plane approximately normal to the general plane of the body portion and terminating at its upper end in a cross member having wings at its opposite ends, said wings being projected laterally of the plane of the arm and being extended toward one another for embracing a saw frame outer leg between them.

2. A guide attachment for a hacksaw of the type including a blade and a frame having an outer leg to which the blade is connected at one end, comprising a single piece of material including an elongated body portion having a substantially flat intermediate part and end portions generally coplanar with said intermediate part respectively defining thumb and finger rests, said body portion being formed, at opposite sides of the 25 flat part, with transversely extending slits opening at one end upon one longitudinal edge of the body portion and extending beyond the midwidth point of the body portion to terminate at their inner ends at locations closer to the other longitudinal edge of the body portion than to said one longitudinal edge thereof, said slits defining an arm between them and said arm being bent upwardly into a plane approximately normal to the common plane of the intermediate part and end portions, the line along which said arm is bent extending between the inner ends of the slits to locate said plane of the arm closer to said other longitudinal edge of the body portion than to said one longitudinal edge thereof, the arm terminating at its upper end in a cross member having wings at its opposite ends extending perpendicularly to the length of the arm, said wings projecting from the plane of the arm toward said one longitudinal edge of the body portion and having free ends extending inwardly toward one another at a location above and spaced inwardly from said one longitudinal edge of the body portion, for embracing a saw frame outer leg on disposition of the arm against one side of the leg.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

